Bad working conditions continue at construction of city hospital in Ankara

An unassigned teacher who works at the construction of Ankara Etlik City Hospital in Turkey told that he has lost his health due to wormy food and water from sewage at the construction yard where he came from the southeastern province of Şırnak to earn his keep

SoL news had reported last week that the workers working at the construction site of Ankara Etlik City Hospital have been dismissed last month after they could not get their salary for months and they were fired from the construction by police harassment when they claimed their lives.

While the threat to suppress the workers demanding their rights and salaries by police force indicates only a brief summary what happened in the construction site, there are still workers who have to continue to work at the construction under harsh working conditions.

One of those workers is an unassigned teacher…

S. (identified with his initials), who has been waiting for his assignment but could not get the decision of assignment that he has been waiting for, came to Ankara from Turkey’s southeastern province of Şırnak to work at the construction of Etlik City Hospital in order to provide financial support for the health problems in his family. Yet, the course of things did not occur as he hoped.

He could not get a salary for months, he had to eat unhealthy and wormy food, while he could not take a shower due to water smell like sewage. When he protested these bad conditions at the construction yard, employers accused him of being ‘‘terrorist’’.

‘‘I realized there was a different world at the construction site when I first started to work there. There was an iron discipline in the working site like a military building and overprotected prison’’, he said and added that their regular salaries were initially being paid, but things began to change with the severe economic crisis across the country.

When S. could not get his salaries, he decided to work another subcontractor company serving at the construction but the same problems also went on in this company and he has not received his salary for 3 months.

‘‘WATER SMELLS LIKE SEWAGE, WE DON’T EVEN TAKE A SHOWER TO NOT BECOME SICK’’

Telling that working and housing conditions at the construction site are very bad, S. stated that he is 30 years old and he had never become seriously ill until he came to this construction site, suffering from some skin diseases due to dirty water used in the bathrooms.

He also says that water smells like sewage, and therefore he does not take a shower to not become sick.

HE IS ACCUSED OF BEING ‘TERRORIST’ DUE TO PROTESTING WORMY FOOD

S. also told that the construction company’s catering firm provides wormy food with glass and metal shards, and nobody can impose sanctions to the catering company for these unhealthy services.

He said that workers protesting this unhealthy catering have been accused of being ‘‘terrorists’’ by the employers.

Stating that the Turkish government has never carried out inspections in the construction site, S. noted that he totally disappointed about the conditions of a work which was significantly supported by the state.

Underlining that the authorities neglect the occupational health and safety procedures, the unassigned teacher also says: ‘‘There is no occupational health and safety here, no occupational health and safety experts. They also reduced the numbers of engineers. Working conditions are getting worsening. We can see neither supervisors nor engineers in the construction site now.’’

S. stated that he is aware of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP)’s call for all workers against the crisis and its profiteers under the name of ‘‘Breathe Down Bosses’ Neck’’, pointing out that this solidarity and struggle network should be spread among the workers throughout the country.

‘‘Breathe Down Bosses’ Neck campaign is very effective for workers. We must act like what slogan says, because you are working for employers’ jobs and if you cannot receive a recompense for your labour while working for their interests, you must breathe down their neck! Employers have no supremacy over workers. All our work comrades should support this network and spread it’’, he noted.

Last week, TKP had announced the establishment of a solidarity, communication and struggle network (‘‘Breathe Down Bosses’ Neck’’) against the financial crisis in Turkey and its profiteers, the capitalists.